Has anyone received a Shingles vaccine? I don’t do any vaccines, flu, pneumonia, tetanus or shingles, but I have heard getting the shingles is very bad. I did have chicken pox as a child. Have had GBS four times and don’t want to take a chance on getting it again.

4 times wow, how can that be. My husband 34 was told its very rare to get it again, if i tell him that you had it 4 times, he will probably freek on me. Very scary and still is. He was hospitalized for 62 days, we are dairy farmers and have 3 little girls. He is recovering at home, but it has been 1 year exactly since he was diagnosed on feb 12 2011. He has a positive attitude and has kept me going. Life was pretty hard for a while for him. But we as a family are moving forward helping him anyway i can.

I really have had GBS 4 times. The first time was when I was 8 years old (1948) and started walking funny. My doctor didn’t know what it was and put special built up shoes on me. The second time (1958) was after I graduated from high school and was walking down some steps and my legs collapsed and I fell. I had had a virus before and it was a stressful time for me. The doctor diagnosed GBS and it was a year before I could return to normal. The third time (1989), I was working in a very stressful job and got a virus. It was 14 months before I could return to work. I had plasmaphersis, was in the hospital 3 weeks and in a rehab facility one week with outpatient visits. The fourth time (2002) I had another virus, was the time after my mother’s death and we had to work very hard getting ready for a sale of the contents of the house, also was in a stressful job. Legs went numb and I knew what it was. This time I retired and got social security disability. I had IVIG with this but don’t think it did much good. It was over a year before I felt well. I still have trouble with steps but do water aerobics and mow my grass, etc. The doctors all diagnosed GBS not CIPD. Everyone is different.

Wow Barbara, amazing. I agree that its a stressful time and a virus that triggers GBS. Our sitter had broken her arm, we milk cows at 3am every morning, and I work off the farm a fulltime job. Plus we do not live on the farm yet, my mother in law does. So we would run, split the day, with running back and forth, milking, feeding, cleaning barn, while one of us was watching the girls, in the winter (feb 2011) then i would run back to work in town, while watched the girls, because i had my job that had to be done also. Pretty soon he just got so worn down, and a head cold, then the tingling in the feet and overnight it moved up his body, and he was hospitalized with GBS and spent the 62 days in a hospital 30 miles away. We look back on this now 1 year ago, and see just how worn out he really was, but never thought of anything this GBS happenening. So scary this was for him and me and our 3 girls. I still remember when he called me from the barn that night and told me he thought he was dying, but couldnt describe how to me, he didnt know what was going on. Then he lost everything in his legs and up his body it moved, so fast too, by the next morning it was in his face, lost his hands movement, etc. He literally thought he was dying, and I myself had that feeling too just from seeing him. I was so scared….for him….thank you for sharing Barbara. How are you doing now? He is pretty tired, and limited on his abilities too. But we have him home and thats wonderful. thanks Brenda

True, that. With regard to shingles, there is some evidence that GBS can be triggered by the virus, but the virus is already within you, but dormant. The vaccine for shingles is a live-virus type. I have not taken it for that reason, as I am on an immune system suppressant (for CIDP).